marginalia mugs

I started adding overglaze decals to mugs and cups in summer 2025, and I hope to keep using them! These decals are drawn by me, scanned, and sent to the Archie Bray Foundation to be made into ceramic transfers. I apply them to fully glaze-fired pieces (they go on like temporary tattoos), and fire them again to bisque temperature to sublimate the design into the glaze.
The first batches of pots with this process have drawings of creatures and designs called "marginalia" – illustrations found in the spaces and margins of medieval manuscripts. I’ve loved these little guys since encountering them in my college Medieval Studies/Art History classes. The idea of these “doodles” decorating objects that take weeks/months to laboriously create was a bonus to their general cuteness and whimsy; as was how wonderfully they play over my dots and designs.
(check out my collection page for more reading about medieval marginalia) ~

mugs are 16oz
stoneware (microwave safe, not dishwasher recommended)
decorated with carved/stamped texture & slip, underglaze details with clear glaze